It occurred to me the other day that I should have a look at mass transit here in NYC. Oh not an in depth look because that would take forever. No, I mean the little things, oddities and experiences etc. Allow me to share some of these with you now if I may.

At 62^nd Street and New Utrecht Ave in Brooklyn you can make a connection with either the D line, upstairs, or the N line, downstairs. I have noticed something odd that goes on all the time over the years of making this connection myself. The passengers get off of the D train on either the Manhattan bound side or the Coney Island bound side knowing, or being told, that they can connect with the N train downstairs. The problem that I have noticed is that if the passengers get off of the back end of the platform and go downstairs to connect with the N train, they can only exit. There is no connection point for the N train at the North end of the D line platform!

This is what I see all the time. A passenger gets off the D train and walks down the stairs; say on the Coney Island bound side. They get to the bottom of the stairs and start to walk towards the exit. They see the exit only and no connection point. They all have that same look of confusion on their faces. They look at the walls and signs for guidance, but thanks to our thoughtful Mass transit system personnel, there are none! They all end up asking someone where the N train is and are told that they have to walk back upstairs and to the other end of the platform and then downstairs to make the connection. Now I’m no genius, but I think I have a solution:

PUT UP SIGNS FOR THE PASSENGERS!

Put a sign at both stairwells that lead downstairs that say something like, “N train connection at other end of platform.” Or, at the very least, put a sign downstairs that says. “We fucked up and forgot to post a sign upstairs so you have to go back upstairs and to the other end of the platform to have a prayer of getting the N train. We are having coffee at the moment and will get to that upstairs sign at some point.”

I don’t know how many passengers go through this situation everyday, but a little sign is all it would take to rectify this ridiculous frustration that passengers have to go through!

Another interesting observation that I’ve seen on a number of occasions is what I like to call the, “Closing door syndrome.” Yes, you are already starting to understand what I’m talking about, arnt-cha?

You’ve waited somewhat patiently for a late train and it finally arrives. The doors open and loads of people come barreling out because it’s a connection point. You wait until you have room to enter through the doors and sure enough you hear that ding-dong noise that tells you the doors are closing. Not only are the doors closing, but they are closing on you! What about passengers with packages or ladies with pocket books (purses) that have been caught by the closing doors? Or, worse yet, the baby carriage that the doors were closed on? Yes, I’ve seen that also.

Now you have to realize that the doors are operated by a conductor. Good so far. A human being that looks first to see if it is ok to close the doors. Still with you. A non-mechanical being that can think and see and hear for the safety of the passengers. Hey, that sounds good. This means that he or she is closing the doors on passengers on purpose!! Oh! That’s not so good. You’re damn right, so why do they do it?

I have taken it upon myself to inquire with some of these non-mechanical beings as to why they may close the doors on passengers. Here are some of the reasons I’ve been told.

We have to close the doors at some point right?

I’m running late and have to make up time.

If the passengers would exit and enter correctly, the doors wouldn’t close on them.

(Wait a damn minute here, YOU close the doors on them, not the doors!)

School kids are making me late. (True.)

Either way I have a suggestion that just may help a little. Why not give the ding-dong sound to alert passengers that the doors WILL be closing and not as they are closing? Give the passengers some credit, they may just try and get in and out a bit quicker. Just a thought.

You always see signs around the transit system about them being serious about safety, yeah ok. Then how do they explain closing the doors on passengers?  Doesn’t seem safe to me. How about a new slogan that the passengers can understand?

“We’re serious about safety, if it fits into the budget.”